Romano Scalfi: A Life Dedicated to Church Unity

The founder of Russia Cristiana passed away on Christmas Day at age 93. Remembering his encounter with Fr. Giussani in 1957, the discovery of the samizdat, and much more.

Fr. Julián Carrón’s message to Monsignor Francesco Braschi

Dear Fr. Francesco, I want to join my sadness to that of the extensive family of Russia Cristiana at the death of Fr. Scalfi, whom I was able to see one last time just a few days ago. I was again amazed at his total self-entrustment to God’s will, accepting his illness as the circumstance through which he could live out his vocation. The joy that I saw in his face, his love for the Movement, and the blessing he gave me for the responsibility I’m asked to carry will remain with me forever. We could never be grateful enough for his witness of faith that, in his friendship with Fr. Giussani, showed everyone a Church that breathes with two lungs, from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, and communicated such a passion for that unity, which Christ pointed to as the supreme sign of His presence in the world. We are now seeing the fruits of the relationships opened up by Fr. Scalfi when no one took an interest in Russia, and these are the patrimony he leaves us on this Christmas Day, the day the Mystery chose to welcome him into His embrace full of mercy. We ask Our Lady to help us to accept the task to which Fr. Scalfi dedicated his life, now led in a particular way by Pope Francis, as our own.

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Called by Father Giussani to share in the responsibility of the leadership of the Movement, Father Julián Carrón has been President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation since March 19, 2005, and Ecclesiastical Assistant to the Memores Domini since May 13, 2005. Julián Carrón was born in 1950 in Navaconcejo (Cáceres, Spain). He was ordained a priest in 1975, and the following year he obtained a degree in Theology, specializing in Sacred Scripture at the Comillas Pontifical University.